Automatic fire alarm



Sept. 9 i924.

F. P. HARTLEY AUTOMATIC FI-RE ALARM Filed Sent. 6'. 1923 2 shun-shed 1 Sept. 9 1924.

F. P. HARTLEY AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM Filed Sent. 6, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Sept. 9 1924,

FRANK Pi HARTLEY, OF BANGOR, MAINE.

AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM.-

T 0 all whom it may 00171087 71,

Be it known that I, FRANK e HARTLEY," companying drawings, wherein: a citizen of'the United States, residing at Bangor, in the county of Penobscc't and 5 State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Fire Alarms; and I do declare the following 'to be a full, clear, and exact description or the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains t'omalre and use the same. This invention re tomatic fire alarm of the type in which a spring-controlled portable signal maybe lates to an improved'aucaused to sound when a fire occurs and the temperature in a room rises above a' p'rede termi-ned point.

One object of a signal of the character described in the signal-sounding means the invention is to provide whichand control means therefor may be permanently mounted upon a carrier'plate detachably held in engagement witha hollow support in which the thermostat will be mounted so that when desired tlie' (it11'l8r plate may be easily and quickly removed for cleaning or repairing,

without it being necessary thermostat.

to disturb "the Another ob'ect" of 'the'inventio'n is to so construct this dev-ice that the thermostat may be positioned within a hollow support and the 'sig'naLcarrying plate detachably secured upon the outer face of the support with the signal means extending externally and a control means carried by-tlle plate' ex-te'nd ing into the support lnposition for engagement by the thermostat. I

Another object of thefinvention'is'to pro vide an improved type of controlfin the form of a leverpivotally mounted beneath the signal-carrying plate and having a stern extending through the plate for 'engaglng a latch forming part of the signal-sounding an abutmentbeing provided means,

intermediate the length of this lever so that it canloe adjusted towards'and awayfrom the thermostat, and tht'is oa-usethfe lever to be moved'to release the lat'ch' only when the temperature in the room'has reached determined point;

a pre- A pplication filed. September 6, 1923. Serial N01 561244.

'- This invention is illustrated in: the ac- Figure l is a topplan view showing the improved device with the signal bell re-. moved. w a Figure 2 is a bottom plan view o the device;

Figure is a vertical sectional view through the device with -theloell in place.

Figure 4 is a view taken at right angles to Fig. 3 and showing the device partially in vertical section and partially in elevation. 1 3

l his improved signalis provided with a support 1 which is-in the form of a dome and will preferably beformed of metal. It; will thus be seen that the support is in the former a hollow housing which is open at its lower end. Across-bar or bridge 2 extends across the lower end portion of this dome 1 and has its end-portions bent to. provide upturned armsB' having threaded openings formed therein so that fastener screws 4 maybe passed throughthe walls of the dome and screwed into these openin'gs to 'securelyhol'd the bridge in place. A wire screen 5 is provided as a protector for the open lower end "of the dome and has its peripheral portion turned upwardly to engage the inner face-of the-walls of the 0 dome. This upturned portion of the screen- 1 ing, 5 extends betweenthe arms 3 and the walls "of the dome so that "whenthe screws 'iare put in place, the wire will be firmlygripped; The' thermostat 6 is of a conventional c'onstru'ction and positioned within the dome or support 1 and is provided with the usualneckportion 7 which extends from its upper face foren'gaging'thesignal control when the-thermostat expands. A threaded stem 8 extends downwardly from this thermostat and passes through an open I ing formed in the bridge and also through th'ewire screening. A -securing nut 9"will then be put in place and will-serve not only. as means to s'ecure'thethermostat 'in placebut will also serve as means for assisting in holding the screen 5 in place. The upper portion or head of this dome has been provided'wi'th an opening 10 which is elongated and shaped as shown in Fig. 2 and extends substantially diametrically of the dome. Adjacent one end and at one s de of the opening 10, there has been provided a slot 11 which extends transversely of the opening and adjacent the other end of the opening and at the opposite side thereof from the slot 11., a tongue 12 has been out from the dome and bent upwardly as shown in Fig. 3 to provide a latching tongue, to re leasably hold the signal carrier in place.

This signal carrier is in the form of a plate 13 formed of a suitable metal which will preferably be circular in shape to conform to the shape of the dome but of course may he of any desired shape. This plate rests upon the top of the. dome and covers the opening 10. At one point above the circumference of this plate, there has been provided a tongue 14 which is bent as shown in Fig. 3 so that it will be offset with respect to the rest of the plate and positioned beneath the plane thereof. This tongue let is of a proper width to permit of it being passed through the slot 11. It will thus be seen that the tongue may be passed. into the slot let with the plate in a tilted position and the plate then swung downwardly into flat engagement with the upper wall or head of the dome. When in this position, the tongue 14 will engage the inner face of this head of the dome and the latching tongue 12 will pass through an opening 15 formed in the plate. This latch will then engage the plate as shown in Fig. 3 and the plate will be securely held in engagement with the dome but. may be easily and quickly removed by inserting a screw driver or other similar prying device between the dome. and the lip portion 16 of the plate.

The signal means is carried by the plate 13 and is provided with a signal bell 17 which is held upon the shaft 18 by means of a fastener 19 which s threaded upon the shaft 18 and provided with a ring 20 so that by grasping the ring20 and turning it,-the shaft may be rotated in one direction. This shaft 18 forms the main shaft of the clockwork indicated in general by the numeral 21 and when the shaft is rotated by means of the fastener 19 and ring 20,the spring 22 will. be wound. This clockwork is of the usual construction in connection with the alarm mechanism of a clock and includes the usual striker shaft 23 having a side pin 24 engaged. by the tongue 25 of the latch strip 26. This latch strip 26 is formed of resilient material and issecured upon the upper face of the carrier plate 13 and has its free end positioned above a stem 27 which passes slidably through the plate and has its, upper end enlarged to provide a head 28. to limit its downward movement. This stem. 27 is threaded and has its lower end portion passmg through an opening formed in the free end of a lever 29 positioned beneath the plate and pivotally mounted between the ears 30 formed by tongue cut from the plate 13'and bent downwardly. It will thus befirmly hold the stem in engagementwith the lever, but will permit adjustments. A.

side tongue 32 extends from the lever intermediate its length and carries an abut-- ment screw 33 which has its threaded shank passed upwardly through a threaded opening formed in this tongue 32 and its head positioned above the abutment lug 7 extending upwardly from the thermostat. 6.

A lock-nut 34 is provided upon this abutment screw to engage the side tongue 32' and securely lockthe abutment in an adjusted:

position. It will thus be seen that the abut= ment nut can be secured a desired distance above the lug 7 and the lug 7 thus caused to only engage the abut-ment when the thermostat has been expanded the amount which will take place when the temperature has risen to a predetermined degree'of heat.

When this device is in use, it will be mounted at aproper point in a room by any suitable mounting means,- and with. the abut ment screw set at the proper position and secured by the lock nut 34, the tongue 14 will be passed through theslot 11 and the carrier tilted downwardlyinto the position shown in Fig. 3. The spring can thenjbe wound;

and the device is readylfor use". When the temperature rises abovea predetermined degree of heat. the expanding thermostat Swill engage the abutment and swing the lever 29 upwardly, thus raising-the stem 27 so that its head 28 will engage the free end portion of the spring latch 26 and move this'latch upwardlyto a position in which the tongue thereof will be out of engagement with the side pin of the striker shaft. The clockwork will then be released and the striker will be operated in the usual manner to sound the bell 17 It will of course beunderstood that the device could be modified so that contraction of the thermostat by-a decreasein temperature could cause sounding of the alarm. If it is necessary to clean the clockwork mechanism. or make any repairs tothe same or adjust the abutment 33 to change thegtemperature. at which the signal. willbe sounded, it is simply necessary to insert a screwdriver or any other prying device beneath the lip 16 and tilt the plate 13 upwardly. This will release the plate from the latch 12 and the plate can be swung'upwardly and entirely removed from the dome 1. The signal means and signal control means will be bodily removed with this plate and the proper repairs or adjustments can be made and the carrier plate and signal means replaced, without it being necessary to reset the thermostat within the dome.

A fire alarm has thus been provided which is very effective in operation and which can be easily and quickly repaired or adjusted without the thermostat which is very delicate being disturbed.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a support having a socket and a latching tongue spaced from the socket, a signal carrier resting upon said support and having a tongue moved into and out of said socket by tilting of the carrier, the carrier being tilted into and out of engagement with said latching tongue, a signal carried by said carrier, a signal control carried by said carrier, and a thermostat carried by said support for engaging said control and cansing movement thereof to permit operation of the signal.

2. In a device of the character described, a support, resilient locking means carried by said support, a signal carrier resting upon said support and snapped into and out of engagement with said resilient locking means for quick detachment from said support, signal means and signal control means carried by said carrier and bodily removable therewith, and thermostatic means carried by said support and positioned for engaging said control means and causing move ment thereof to permit operation of the signal when the thermostat is affected by a predetermined change in temperature;

3. Ina device of'the character described, a support, a signal carrier removably connected with said support, spring-operated signal means carried by the outer face of said carrier and including a latch normally in an operative position, a lever pivotally connected with said carrier and positioned beneath the same, a stem extending from the lever through said carrier for engaging said latch and moving the latch to a releasing position when the lever is moved upwardly, a thermostat mounted in said support, and

an abutment carried by said lever and positioned above said thermostat for engagement thereby to permit movement of the lever to release the latch, said abutment being adjustably mounted for movement towards and away from'the thermostat.

4. A device of the class described comprising a hollow supporting base having a relatively large opening in its top, a thermostat mounted within said base below said opening, acarrier plate closing said opening, a signal. mounted on said plate, operating means for said signal mounted on said plate, and control means carried by said plate and arranged for co-action with said thermostat, said plate and all of the parts carried thereby being removable from said opening as a unit.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aflixed my signature.

FRANK r. HARTLEY. 

